Can participatory research be a route to empowerment? A case study of a disadvantaged Scottish community

The growth of participatory research in recent years has beennotable. This paper considers its potential for empowering disadvantagedcommunities and providing a route for overcoming social exclusion.Problems of definition and key challenges for undertaking participatoryresearch are reviewed based upon work undertaken in a deprivedcommunity in Scotland. Opportunities exist for researchers andcommunity developers together to develop participatory approaches.A principal role for researchers is in bridging the gap betweenservice users and policy makers, funders and other service providersby working with service users to demonstrate the impact of socialexclusion. The authors conclude that participatory researchmerits close attention as long as its difficulties are acknowledged.     

Caring for mentally disabled people in Scotland

Scotland's mental health agencies face a major challenge with the appearance of Caring for People. The arrival of the community care White Paper has coincided with the appearance of renewed concern over hospital inpatient provision and over the perceived lack of progress in the development of community care. This article examines some of the differences which arise from the construction of community care policy in Scotland and some of the evidence available for assessing the present state of care in the community for the younger mentally disabled. It is found that some 630,000 adults under the age of 65 (or 19% of all adults in this age group) are suffering from some form of mental disability, some 22% of whom are in severe need of care. 93% of this group are located in the community. Problems for carers are created by the presence of significant shortfalls in resources and by the balance of care which exists in Scotland.     

Social Policy in a Cold Climate: Health and Social Welfare in Russia

The Russian Federation faces multiple challenges for its health and welfare systems and for the development of social policy responses. This article provides a review of some of the key challenges for social policy in Russia and assesses the adequacy of the responses to date. The author surveys recent developments in health and social welfare and makes recommendations on priorities for Russia's policy‐makers and international funders. A range of public health challenges including drug and alcohol misuse, health in prisons and mental health is discussed; HIV/AIDS is singled out for particular attention. While Russia is increasingly attracting the attention of social scientists in the West, there is uncertainty about models and concepts suitable for the analysis of this complex society. Although empirical trends are largely discussed in this article, it is argued that theoretical development is required and some suggestions are made about concepts of the ‘middle range’ to assist in future analyses. Intermediate theories, such as those relating to the management of personal welfare, and development of resilience in a formerly collectivized context, are identified as having explanatory potential for this task.     

‘All feasible measures’—Children's Rights and Violent Conflict in Northern Ireland

SUMMARY: The UK, having ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, is bound to take ‘all feasible measures' to protect children in armed conflicts; yet in its First Report on progress on the Convention, the Government barely acknowledged the impact on children and young people of violence in Northern Ireland. By contrast the Children's Rights Development Unit in its ‘alternative’ report, the ‘UK Agenda for Children’, examined in detail children's rights in Northern Ireland, and how the Government could comply with the Convention. This article describes the consultation process informing CRDU's report, and highlights the need for children's rights to be addressed as part of both healing the past and shaping the future of Northern Ireland.     

Repositioning Risk and Resilience: Improving the Lives of Children and Adults with Mental Health Problems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

The repositioning of risk and resilience within the social work and mental health agenda is examined in this paper through a consideration of the social exclusion of vulnerable children and adults living in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA). There is a pressing need in this region for the development of better conceptions and cultural adaptations of risk and resilience models. An important task is spelling out the implications for effective prevention and intervention programs, and for practitioners and service users in terms of an inclusive, person-centred, and emancipatory practice. The societies of the EECA region may be understood as comprising a distinctive form of risk society, distinguished from Western counterparts by their adverse risk levels, and by their emancipatory potential. Strategies based on user inclusion and participatory action require to be fashioned, along with the development of the social work profession, to facilitate the empowerment of users in the EECA region.